His Airness Returning? It Could Happen - Again

Norm Wood

Looking deep into the crystal ball, here's a headline from the sports pages in the year 2025:

Michael Jordan, age 62, wins 20th NBA MVP award;

Plans to return for another season

It could happen.

Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin may have lent further credence to one of the worst-kept secrets in "the Association" with his comments that appeared in a story in the Washington Post on Tuesday.

"The odds are that he's going to come back," Pollin said. "I think he's going to decide whether he's going to be able to play at the level that is satisfying to him."

If a regimen that includes six hours of workouts per day, which has been mentioned in reports, is any indication of Jordan's conviction to a possible return, the Wizards better keep their No. 23 jersey unoccupied. Average Joe doesn't put in those kinds of hours during his golden years of retirement unless he's got a goal in mind.

Jordan said there's a perfectly valid reason he's camping out in the weight room and suiting up periodically in practices with the Wizards, a team of whom he is part-owner, but it has nothing to do with a return. His Airness proclaims that he has gained 25 pounds since his playing days and would like to lose the love handles.

It takes six hours a day to rid yourself of 25 pounds? Numbers like that make a guy happy that he's blessed with quick metabolism. Heck, I'm not even close to retirement, and I have to take a sick day if I'm forced to riffle through the couch cushions for 15 prolonged minutes to find the remote.

Of course, a rather large footnote to the hot rumor of the moment is that fellow retired former star Charles Barkley wants to join his buddy in an NBA curtain call. Talk about a guy who needs to get on the six-hours-a-day diet. Forget about running for governor of Alabama, Chuck. You're about as big as 'Bama these days.

Maybe MJ does have a new goal in mind. He figures if he comes back, he can hang around in the league for a while, drop in a cool 15 or 20 points per game, show those snot-nosed punks Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, et. al, who their daddy is, continue to work on his golf game and join the two-sport generation. Baseball was a no-go, so that leaves golf.

That's what he'll do. When you're the world's greatest athlete, why not stick around in your league for as long as you'd like. I'm figuring he'll keep himself in shape with those maniacal workouts until he's ... oh, say 62, then, he'll join the PGA Seniors Tour and go toe-to-toe with the Seniors' new vaunted rookie, Tiger Woods.

It's the perfect career path for a man who was once, and may still be, the most charismatic and influential personality in the history of sports. He calls his own shots.

Returning to the NBA at 38? Is it selfish? Sure it is. Jordan has nothing left to prove in a league where he's won the regular-season MVP hardware five times. On the other hand, who's going to tell him not to do it? Jordan is obviously still determined to put in the work it takes to succeed in the NBA.

Tuesday, Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux said that if Jordan returned, he'd still be the NBA's best player. Lemieux, who is also in the ownership game in his respective sport, doesn't play in the NBA, but he knows a thing or two about comebacks. Don't ya think?